How Many Taxes Do You Need To Pay After Flipping A Property

WHAT IS FLIPPING ?

Flipping is a term used primarily in the United States to describe purchasing a revenue-generating asset and quickly reselling (or "flipping") it for profit. Though flipping can apply to any asset, the term is most often applied to real estate and initial public offerings (iPOs).

FLIPPING A HOUSE

The term "flipping" is used by real property investors to describe "residential redevelopment." Redevelopment of distressed or abandoned properties or neighborhoods has sometimes been linked to malicious and illegal acts in the post housing bubble era. The term "flipping" is frequently used both as a descriptive term for schemes involving market manipulation and other illegal conduct and as a derogatory term for legal real estate investing strategies that are perceived by some to be unethical or socially destructive. in the United Kingdom the term is used to describe a technique whereby Members of Parliament were found to be switching their second home between several houses, which had the effect of allowing them to maximize their taxpayer-funded allowances There are ways to pay fewer taxes flipping, but it takes some sacrifices from the investor and a lot of time.

I've been reading from assetcolumn since a while and there's a really nice article about How to Get Started Flipping Houses. Click Here to Learn More about it. In this article we're going to focus in Taxes not in How to Flip Houses.

Most flips are taxed at the ordinary income tax rate. I flip many houses a year and to me, it is not worth the time it would take to pay fewer taxes on flips, but for others, it may be worthwhile. i am not an accountant, and for specific legal or tax questions, please consult an attorney.

Ways to pay Less Tax

Tax Rates on Fix and Flips

Flipping houses is considered a business by the iRS, not a investment. Rental properties are considered a investment and have much more favorable treatment from the iRS. Rental income itself is considered ordinary income, but you can depreciate rentals, which is a huge tax advantage.

Rental Properties Taxes

When you sell rental properties, the profit is often considered long-term capital gain and taxed at a much lower rate than ordinary income. if you make $30,000 on a rental property sale, you may only pay 15 percent taxes instead of twice that if you are in one of the higher tax brackets. it is possible to flip a house and pay that lower tax rate, but there are many things you have to do to qualify your property.Flip as a rental propertyThe iRS tax codes are not the clearest thing in the world. They tend to be very vague when giving instructions on how to figure taxes.

The iRS says a rental property has to be held for a certain amount of time for it to qualify for long-term capital gains. However, they do not specify what that time frame is. Many people assume it is one year, but there are no guarantees with the iRS. it is explained that you could buy a house you intend to flip, fix it up, rent it for one year and then only pay long-term capital gains taxes. However, the iRS has many intricacies, and you should always consult an accountant when trying to figure out the tax code.

The iRS created this code because they felt dealers or professional house flippers should have to pay ordinary income tax on their earnings because it is their profession. Just like a doctor, real estate agent or most anyone has to pay ordinary taxes on their wages. if you are flipping ten houses a year, holding them all for over a year and then trying to pay only long-term capital gains on the taxes, the iRS may say you are a dealer, and you owe ordinary income taxes.
Not all capital gains are treated equally. The tax rate can vary dramatically between short-term and long-term gains. Generating gains in a retirement account, such as a 401(k) plan or an iRA, can also affect your tax rate.

Short term of Property Taxes

The internal Revenue Service taxes different kinds of income at different rates. The tax rate can vary dramatically between short-term and long-term gains. Generating gains in a retirement account, such as a 401(k) plan or a iRA, can also affect your tax rate.

Short-term Capital Gains

Short capital gains do not benefit from any special tax rate – they are taxed at the same speed as your ordinary income.
For 2016, ordinary tax rates range from 10 percent to 39.6 percent, depending on your total taxable income.if you sell an asset, you have held for one year or less, any profit you make is considered a short-term capital gain. The clock begins ticking from the day after you acquire the asset up to and including the day you sell it.

Long-term Capital Gains

if you can manage to hold your assets for longer than a year, you can benefit from a reduced tax rate on your profits. For 2016, the long-term capital gains tax rates are 0, 15, and 20 percent for most taxpayers. if your ordinary tax rate is already less than 15 percent, you could qualify for the zero percent long-term capital gains rate. For high-income taxpayers, the capital gains rate could save as much as 19.6 percent off the ordinary income rate.

Gains in retirement accounts One of the many benefits of iRAs and other retirement accounts is that you can defer paying taxes on any gains. Long-term capital verses short-term capital
Whether you generate a short-term or long-term gain in your iRA, you don't have to pay any tax at all until you take the money out of the account. The negative is that all contributions and earnings you withdraw from a iRA, even profits from long-term capital gains, are taxable as ordinary income. You gain the benefit of tax-deferral but lose the benefit of the long-term capital gains tax rate.Capital losses The iRS allows you to match up your gains and losses for any given year to determine your "net" capital gain or loss. if you end up with a net loss, you can use up to $3,000 per year to reduce your taxable income. Any additional losses can be carried-forward into future years, to offset either capital gains or another $3,000 in ordinary income.Since you don't generate capital gains or losses in a retirement account, you can't use trades in iRAs or 401(k) plans to offset your income in this manner.

Capital Gain

A capital gain is what the tax law calls the profit you receive when you sell a capital asset, which is property such as stocks, bonds, mutual fund shares and real estate. This does not include your primary residence. Special rules apply to those sales.

Difference between a Short-term Capital Gain and a Long-term Capital Gain

There's a very big difference between The tax law divides capital gains into two different classes determined by the calendar. Short-term Gains come from the sale of property owned one year or less. long-term Gains originate from the sale of assets held more than one year.

Short gains are taxed at your maximum tax rate, as high as 43.4% in 2016.

Most long-term gains are taxed at either 0%, 15%, or 20% for 2016.

The holding period

That's the period you own the property before you sell it. When figuring the holding period, the day you buy property does not count, but the day you sell it does. So if you purchased a stock on April 15, 2014, your holding period began on April 16, 2016. Thus, April 15, 2016 would mark one year of ownership for tax purposes. if you sold on that day, you would have a short-term gain or loss How much to pay

The tax rate you pay in 2016 depends on whether your gain is short-term or long-term.

• Short profits are taxed at your maximum tax rate.-
• Long-term gains are treated much better. Long gains are taxed at 15% or 20% except for taxpayers in the 10% or 15%t bracket. For low-bracket taxpayers, the long-term capital gains rate is 0%. There are exceptions, of course, since this is tax law:
• Long-term gains on collectibles—such as stamps, antiques, and coins—are taxed at 28%, unless you're in the 10% or 15 % or 25% bracket, in which case the 10% or 15% rate or 25% rate applies
• Gains on real estate that is attributable to depreciation—since depreciation deductions reduce your cost basis; they also increase your profit dollar for dollar—are taxed at 25%, unless you're in the 10% or 15% bracket.
• Long-term gains from stock sales by children under age 19—under 24 years old if they are students—may not qualify for the 0% rate because of the Kiddie Tax rules. (When these rules apply, the child’s gains may be taxed at the parents’ higher rates.)

As with capital gains, capital losses are divided by the calendar into short- and long-term losses.Deduct capital losses Yes,  but there are limits. Losses on your investments are first used to offset capital gains of the same type. So short-term losses are first deducted against short-term gains, and long-term losses are deducted against long-term gains. Net losses of either type can then be deducted against the other kind of gain. So, for example, if you have $2,000 of short-term loss and only $1,000 of short-term gain, the net $1,000 short-term loss can be deducted against your net long-term gain (assuming you have one). if you have an overall net capital loss for the year, you can deduct up to $3,000 of that loss against other kinds of income, including your salary and interest income, for example. Any excess net capital loss can be carried over to subsequent years to be deducted against capital gains and against up to $3,000 of other kinds of income. if you use married filing separate filing status, however, the annual net capital loss deduction limit is only $1,500.

Conclusion

The easiest is the aforementioned capital-gains technique.

Simply hang onto the property for more than a year, and you'll pay long-term capital gains taxes instead of higher ordinary rates.

Want to avoid taxes altogether? Move into the investment property and turn it into your primary residence. As long as you live there for two years (or a total of 730 days -- and the occupation time doesn't have to be sequential) out of the last five, the iRS will accept that it was your home. Then when you sell it, up to $250,000 (twice that if you're married and file jointly with your spouse) of your profit is excluded from taxation.

"The parameters here basically can be pretty broad, as long as you trade a investment property, or business property, for a similar one, For instance, you can swap undeveloped land for developed land, or vice verse. You can swap a residential rental home for a commercial property. The only restriction: The exchanged property can't be a personal asset. it has to be a income-producing asset."Keep in mind that a like-kind exchange will only postpone your tax bill. When you ultimately dispose of the investment property you acquired in the exchange, you'll owe taxes.